System and method for managing bundle data database storing data association structure

ABSTRACT

A bundle database management system comprises a search server including a bundle definition unit for defining a core word and a relevant word connected to the core word, and connection relation between the core and relevant words to generate and store bundle data; a description definition unit for defining description data corresponding to the core and relevant words; a search request receiving unit for receiving a search request including a specific search word input by a user; a search result page generating unit for generating a search result page including the bundle data retrieved by the search word as a core word and the description data retrieved by the core word; and a search result page transmitting unit for transmitting the search result page to the user; and a user terminal connected to the search server for transmitting the search request and receiving the search result page.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/088,326 filed on Mar. 27, 2008, which is a national phaseentry of International Application No. PCT/KR2006/003882 filed Sep. 28,2006, which claims priority under 35 USC 119(a) to Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2005-0090762 filed on Sep. 28, 2005, and No.10-2005-0104668 filed on Nov. 3, 2005, in the Republic of Korea, theentire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to bundle database management system andmethod, and particularly, to bundle database management system andmethod which provides a search service by generating bundle datadefining an association structure of relevant words related to aspecific word, storing it in a bundle database, and including bundledata retrieved from the bundle database by a search word input by a userin a search result.

BACKGROUND ART

A conventional search system retrieves a search database (DB) by asearch word received from a user and provides the retrieved dataarranged in order. For example, when a user transmits a search requestfor a search word of X, a search server retrieves data according tocategory classification (e.g., site, knowledge, news, dictionary and soon) and arranges the corresponding data according to the order of eachcategory group to provide a search result page.

The conventional search system is mainly designed for a depth-miningsearch for a specific search word and just provides a simple arrangementof information related to the search word, and thus it requires a userto grasp the association of the retrieved information on his/her own.For example, when the user inputs “hippie” as a search word, theconventional search system provides information directly related to theword, “hippie” as search results. The user can obtain professionalknowledge directly related to “hippie” from the conventional searchsystem, not a peripheral knowledge related to “hippie”. Thus, theconventional search system is impossible to expand to three-dimensionaland applicable related knowledge based on organic association of wordsforming search results, and consequently it is improper to create newknowledge through assembly and association of information.

For example, when the user inputs “hippie” as a search word, a searchresult page generated by the conventional search system just shows thetitles of websites including “hippie” or connection routes of contentsincluding “hippie”. Thus, the conventional search system has alimitation in providing the user with an opportunity of access to onlyinformation having a direct association with “hippie”.

The word, “hippie” has association with words, “psychedelic”, “Beatles”,and “mods look”, however, the conventional search method has difficultyin getting access to all information related to “hippie”.

An alternative method may get access to contents having a directassociation with “hippie”, grasp the subject matter of the correspondingcontents, and find out association between “hippie” and “psychedelic”(this step is not an easy job). Subsequently, the method inputs a searchword of “psychedelic” and gets access to contents having a directassociation with “psychedelic” from the search results, therebyexpanding the width of knowledge for an object of search.

However, such a method repetitively performs the steps for checking thesubject matter of an individual search result and inferring a searchword, thereby resulting in increased time and efforts of a user requiredfor search.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

The present invention is designed to solve the problems of the priorart, and therefore it is an object of the present invention to generatebundle data defining association relation between individual data toconstruct a bundle database and provide a search service through thebundle database. Thus, the present invention reduces efforts and timerequired for search and systematically provides similarly relatedinformation for a specific search word to search for relevant words thatthe user has not thought in advance, thereby expanding the width ofknowledge for the search.

Technical Solution

In one aspect, there is provided a bundle database management system forgenerating, storing and searching bundle data defining an associationstructure between individual words having relation to each other, thesystem comprising: a search server having a processor connected to amemory, the search server comprising: a bundle definition unitconfigured to define a core word, a relevant word connected to the coreword, and another relevant word derived from the relevant word regardedas another core word, to generate bundle data defining an nth connectionrelationship between the core word and the relevant word as a graphhierarchy (topology) structure, and to store the generated bundle data;a description definition unit configured to store description datacorresponding to the core word and relevant word; a search requestreceiving unit configured to receive a search request including aspecific search word input by a user; a search result page generatingunit configured to generate a search result page including the bundledata having a search word in its core word and the description datarelating to the core word; and a search result page transmitting unitconfigured to transmit the search result page to the user; and a userterminal connected to the search server, the user terminal beingconfigured to transmit the search request and receive the search resultpage, wherein the search server connects a first bundle with a secondbundle to generate a single nth bundle data, and in case the searchserver connects the first bundle with the second bundle having, as acore word, a same word as an arbitrary word of the first bundle togenerate a connected bundle, while the search server maintains wordassociation structures of the first and second bundles in the connectedbundle, the search server integrates each same word of the first bundleand the second bundle into one word relative to the first bundle,connects bundle data of the first and second bundles with each other insuch a way to add words of the second bundle to the first bundle, andintegrates each description data of the first bundle and the secondbundle into a description data of the integrated word.

In another aspect, there is also provided a bundle database managementmethod for generating, storing, and searching bundle data defining anassociation structure between individual words having relation to eachother, the method including the steps of: (1) defining, with aprocessor, a core word, a relevant word connected to the core word, andanother relevant word derived from the relevant word regarded as anothercore word, generating bundle data defining an nth connection relationbetween the core word and the relevant word as a graph hierarchystructure, and storing the generated bundle data; (2) storingdescription data in a memory, the description data corresponding to thecore word and the relevant word; (3) receiving a search requestincluding a specific search word input by a user; (4) generating, with aprocessor, a search result page including the bundle data having asearch word as its core word and the description data relating to thecore word; and (5) transmitting the search result page to a userterminal, wherein the step (4) comprises connecting a first bundle witha second bundle to generate a single nth bundle data, and in the case ofconnecting the first bundle with the second bundle having, as a coreword, a same word as an arbitrary word of the first bundle to generate aconnected bundle, the step (4) comprises, while maintaining wordassociation structures of the first and second bundles in the connectedbundle, integrating each same word of the first bundle and the secondbundle into one word relative to the first bundle connecting bundle dataof the first and second bundles in such a way to add words of the secondbundle to the first bundle, and integrating each description data of thefirst bundle and the second bundle into a description data of theintegrated word.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of preferredembodiments of the present invention will be more fully described in thefollowing detailed description and shown in the accompanying drawings.In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the structure of a bundle databasemanagement system in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a view of a connection structure of bundle data in accordancewith an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an example view of n-dimensional connection relation of bundledata in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is an example view of bundle connection of a search server inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a view of an internal structure of the search server inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 6 to 11 are example views of bundle data according to sixconnection methods in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 12 is an example view of storage of bundle data in accordance withan exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a general flow of a bundle database management method inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a detailed flow of a step for generating a search result pagein accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is an example view of a screen of the search result page inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is an example view of a screen of a molecular bundle searchresult page in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 17 is an example view of a screen of a molecular bundle searchresult page in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 18 and 19 show examples of bundle data connection methods that aredifferent from those of FIGS. 6 through 11.

BEST MODE

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1is a schematic view of the structure of a bundle database managementsystem 1 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

The bundle database management system 1 according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention has a search server 2 and a userterminal 3.

The search server 2 generates bundle data for defining associations(relation) between search words (words) of an object for search andstoring connection relation between the search words, and stores thebundle data in a bundle database. Also, the search server 2 receives asearch request for a specific search word from the user terminal 3, andtransmits bundle data for graphically representing a connectionstructure of relevant data related to the search word with search resultdata (hereinafter referred to as description data) corresponding to thesearch word, thereby providing a search service.

The user terminal 3 is connected to the search server 2 through wireand/or wireless network and transmits a search request for a specificsearch word input by the user. The user terminal 3 receives a searchresult page in response to the search request. The search result pageincludes description data of the search word and bundle data definingconnection structure of relevant words related to the search word. Thedefinition and structure of bundle data suggested by the presentinvention are described in detail as follows.

FIG. 2 is a view of a connection structure of bundle data in accordancewith an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Here, the word includes a word (for example: “hippy”) containingphysical syllables as well as a word (for example: “hippie”) typicallyrecognized as a word having meaning That is to say, the word is notnecessarily a single word and may be a narrative sentence (for example:“hippie-cultural”) containing at least two words combined with eachother.

i) solo: a word may be defined as a cell, and if there is a single cell(word) of b1, the cell is defined as a solo.

ii) bundle data: bundle data includes a) a single core word, b) at leastone relevant word connected to the core word, and c) connection relationbetween the core word and the relevant word. If a relevant cell (word)is connected to solo, the solo becomes a core word b1 and the connectedcell becomes a relevant word b2.

iii) addition of data b3: if a new relevant word b3 is added to a coreword b1, connection is formed in the structure of b1-b2-b3. The relevantwords b2 and b3 may or not be related to each other, but necessarilythey have association with the core word b1.

iv) association of data b2 and b3: if data b2 becomes as a core word ofdata b3 in the above iii), data b3 is connected to data b2 by a verticalline. In this case, the core word b1 has association with data b3through data b2 as a relevant word and core word.

In the present invention, the connection relation of bundle data isrepresented in two types: a horizontal connection by a horizontal lineand a vertical connection by a vertical line. The horizontal connectionis a rightward connection of a relevant word to a core word of theleftmost side, and the vertical connection is an upward connection of arelevant word to a core word of the lowest side. The vertical connectionis derived from the relevant word forming the horizontal connection, anda starting word of the vertical connection becomes a relevant word ofhorizontal connection structure and core word of vertical connectionstructure. In the horizontal connection structure, a relevant word atthe left side has stronger association with a core word than a relevantword at the right side, and in the vertical connection structure, arelevant word at the lower side has stronger association than a relevantword at the upper side.

In the present invention, terms of solo, core word and relevant wordhave relative concepts changing according to core word criteria (forexample: in (iv) of FIG. 2, b2 is a relevant word of a core word b1 andcore word of b3 connected to b2 by a vertical line).

FIG. 3 is an example view of n-dimensional connection relation of bundledata in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 shows a three-dimensional (n=3) bundle consisting of six cells(words) in practice. Table 1 below defines the concept of theterminology, ‘bundle’ of the present invention through athree-dimensional bundle shown in FIG. 3.

TABLE 1 Terms Definition a first bundle a bundle including a single coreword and at least one relevant word primarily connected to the core wordby association with the core word ((ex) first bundle of b1: b1(coreword), b2, b3 first bundle of b2: b2(core word), b4, b5 first bundle ofb4: b4(core word), b6) a second bundle a bundle including an arbitraryrelevant word constituting the first bundle used as a core word and asubordinate relevant word connected to the core word ((ex) second bundleof b1: b2(core word), b4, b5 second bundle of b2: b4(core word), b6) athird bundle a bundle including an arbitrary relevant word constitutingthe second bundle used as a core word and a subordinate relevant wordconnected to the core word ((ex) third bundle of b1: b4, b6) nth bundlea bundle having nth connection relation expanded according to the first,second and third bundle structures n-dimensional a bundle having thewhole nth relation including a core word bundle of an atomic bundle andthe whole relevant word ((ex) based on b1: b1, b2, b3, b4, b5, b6 are athird bundle, based on b2: b2, b4, b5, b6 are second bundle based on b4:b4, b6 are first bundle) an atomic bundle a bundle including the wholerelevant words initially formed by a search word b1 of a user as a coreword a molecular bundle a bundle including a relevant word forming anatomic bundle used as a core word and a subordinate relevant wordconnected to the core word ((ex) molecular bundle 1: b2, b4, b5, b6molecular bundle 2: b4, b6)

Describing the structure of a bundle shown in FIG. 3 with reference tothe above table 1, a core word b1 forms a three-dimensional bundle as awhole. Because the bundle is expanded to a third bundle b4, b6 based onthe core word b1. The three-dimensional bundle structure is divided intoa first bundle including b1, b2, and b3 based on b1, a second bundleincluding b2, b4, and b5, and a third bundle including b4 and b6, andodd bundle (n=1, 3, 5 . . . ) is a bundle in which words are connectedby a horizontal line and even bundle (n=2, 4, 6 . . . ) is a bundle inwhich words are connected by a vertical line.

Here, for the sake of convenience of description, a bundle in which afirst bundle is connected by a horizontal line is referred to as ahorizontal bundle, and when a bundle is mentioned in the description,the bundle will be understood as a horizontal bundle.

Meanwhile, the core word b1 has a direct association with the relevantwords b2 and b3 primarily connected to b1, and has association with b4,b5 and b6 by expansion through b2 and b4 as relevant words and corewords. That is to say, b1 has association with b4 and b5 through b2 as arelevant word and core word, and has association with b6 through b4 as arelevant word and core word. In this manner, a bundle continues to formand develop by organic expansion of association through a word (cell) asa relevant word and core word.

FIG. 4 is an example view of bundle connection executed by a searchserver 2 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Describing the expansion of bundle by connection of arbitrary bundles,let us assume that a second-dimensional bundle of b4 (a core word)-b5 (arelevant word)-b6 (a relevant word) is additionally connected to b3 in afirst-dimensional bundle i (FIG. 4) of b1 (a core word)-b2 (a relevantword)-b3 (a relevant word). For connection of the two bundles, aconnection structure of b4-b5-b6 is rotated 90 degrees in acounterclockwise direction (the left side in iii of FIG. 4) andsubsequently is axisymmetrically rotated (the right side in iii of FIG.4). Next, the axisymmetrically rotated bundle (b4-b5-b6) is connected toa horizontal line derived from b3 (iv of FIG. 4).

As described above, when connecting bundles, the bundle (b4-b5-b6) to beconnected is rotated 90 degrees in a counterclockwise direction andsubsequently is axisymmetrically rotated on purpose to maintain anindependent bundle structure of the bundle (b4-b5-b6), otherwise, if thebundle (b4-b5-b6) is connected without rotation, b4 loses a function ofa core word as shown in ii of FIG. 4 and just serves as a relevant wordof b1 (a core word), consequently the bundle (b4-b5-b6) does notmaintain an independent structure and is absorbed into the bundle(b1-b2-b3), thereby losing the independent structure thereof.

The detailed description of the principle of bundle connection suggestedby the present invention is made with reference to FIGS. 6 to 11 asfollows.

As shown in FIG. 4, bundle data can be expanded and developed ton-dimensional bundle through bundle connection. On the assumption thatthe search server 2 constructs the b1-b2-b3 bundle and the b4-b5-b6bundle as database, the search server 2 receives the search word b1input from the user, extracts the b1-b2-b3 bundle by b1 as a core word,extracts the b4-b5-b6 bundle having an arbitrary relevant word includedin the extracted bundle as a core word, connects the b1-b2-b3 bundle andthe b4-b5-b6 bundle as described above and provides it the user. Therebythe user can be provided with information from various fields throughthe bundle data from information of all the relevant words havingassociation with b1.

FIG. 5 is a view of an internal structure of a search server 2 inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The search server 2 according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention includes a bundle definition unit 21, a description definitionunit 22, a search request receiving unit 23, a search result pagegenerating unit 24, and a search result transmitting unit 25. Also, adatabase management system (DBMS) of a bundle database includes a bundledata DB 211 and a description data DB 221.

The bundle definition unit 21 defines a core word, a relevant wordconnected to the core word, defines connection relation between the coreword and the relevant word to generate bundle data and store the bundledata in the bundle data DB 211. A manufacturer constructs and generatesthe initial bundle data DB 211, and thereafter the user is provided witha given bundle definition interface display and generates or deleteswords and connection relation thereof thereby to freely define bundlestructure.

For example, the user can define various information as bundle structureand store it in his/her web blog (blog) or mini homepage exclusivelyassigned to members. For incorporating this, it is preferred to defineconnection relation between a core word and a relevant word in the blogor mini-homepage and provide the blog or mini-homepage with a bundlemanufacture tool for inputting description data related to each word.

The description definition unit 22 links an individual word (a core wordor a relevant word) forming bundle data to description data and storesit in the description data DB 221.

The search request receiving unit 22 receives a search request includinga specific search word input by the user from the user terminal 3.

The search result page generating unit 24 retrieves bundle data DB 211of the search word as a core word and retrieves all of word data formingan atomic bundle or a molecular bundle thereby to generate graphicbundle data based on the above-mentioned connection relation (thehorizontal connection, the vertical connection). The search result pagegenerating unit 24 also retrieves the description data DB 221 by searchword (a core word of an atomic bundle or a molecular bundle) to searchfor the corresponding description data. And the search result pagegenerating unit 24 generates a search result page including theabove-mentioned graphic bundle data and description data.

Here, individual words of bundle data included in the search result pagehave a hyperlink (URL information) which allows for reference todescription data. Thereby the user terminal 3 receives the search resultpage and displays it on a screen. When the user selects a specific word(cell) of bundle data, the search server 2 receives the correspondingURL information, refers to the corresponding description data andprovides it through the search result page.

The search result transmitting unit 25 transmits the generated searchresult page to the user terminal 3 in response to the search request andselection of bundle data by the user.

FIGS. 6 to 11 are example views of bundle data by six connection methodsin accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Abundle that is rotated 90 degrees in a counterclockwise direction andsubsequently is axisymmetrically rotated is hereinafter referred to ‘arotated bundle’ for the sake of convenience of description.

FIG. 6 shows a vertical line-A type connection method. When bundles(including solo) (9˜, 10˜, 11˜) are connected to arbitrary relevantwords 2, 3, 6, 8 located on horizontal lines of atomic bundles, thevertical line-A type connection method converts the relevant words 2, 3,6, 8 to core words and connects the bundles (9˜, 10˜, 11˜, 12) to thevertical lines derived from the core words, respectively, as they are.

FIG. 7 shows a horizontal line end-B type connection method. Whenbundles (including solo) (9˜, 10˜, 11˜) are connected to arbitraryrelevant words 3, 7, 8 located at horizontal line ends of atomicbundles, respectively, the horizontal line end-B type connection methodconverts the bundles (9˜, 10˜, 11˜) to be added into rotated bundles andconnects bundles (9˜, 10˜, 11˜) to the horizontal lines derived from therelevant words, respectively.

FIG. 8 shows a horizontal line-B type insertion connection method. Thehorizontal line-B type connection method inserts a bundle (includingsolo) (9˜) between a relevant word 2 and a relevant word 3 located onthe horizontal line of an atomic bundle. At this time, the bundle (9˜)to be inserted is converted into a rotated bundle and inserted in thehorizontal line between the relevant word 2 and the relevant word 3.

FIG. 9 shows a vertical line-B type connection method. When bundles(including solo) (12˜, 13˜, 14˜, 15) are connected to arbitrary relevantwords 5, 6, 10, 11 located on the vertical lines of atomic bundle,respectively, the vertical line-B type connection method converts therelevant words 5, 6, 10, 11 into core words, converts the bundles (12˜,13˜, 14˜, 15) to be added into rotated bundles and connects them to thehorizontal lines derived from the relevant words 5, 6, 10, 11,respectively.

FIG. 10 shows a vertical line end-A type connection method. When bundles(including solo) (12˜, 13˜, 14˜, 15˜) are connected to arbitraryrelevant words 5, 8, 9, 11 located at the vertical ends of atomicbundles, respectively, the horizontal line end-B type connection methodconnects bundles (12˜, 13˜, 14˜, 15˜) to be added to the vertical linesderived from the relevant words 5, 8, 9, 11, respectively, as they are.

FIG. 11 shows a vertical line-A type insertion connection method. Thevertical line-A type insertion connection method inserts a bundle(including solo) (12˜) between a relevant word 4 and a relevant word 5located on the vertical line of an atomic bundle. At this time, thebundle (12˜) to be inserted is inserted in the vertical line between therelevant word 4 and the related word 5, as it is.

Meanwhile, FIGS. 18 and 19 show exemplary bundle data connection methodsthat are different from the above-mentioned six connection methods 1)through 6) as shown in FIGS. 6 through 11.

The connection methods of FIGS. 18 and 19 denote a common connectionmethod. In this connection method, the same words exist in a firstbundle and a second bundle. Any one among at least one same word of thefirst bundle is a core word of the second bundle. Connection of thefirst bundle with the second bundle to generate a new connected bundleleads to combination of bundle data forming a graph hierarchy structureand combination of description data of same words, while maintainingword association structures of the first and second bundles in theconnected bundle.

The combination of bundle data allows generation of a new integratedbundle data in such a way to integrate each of the same words of thefirst bundle and the second bundle into one word relative to the firstbundle and to add words of the second bundle to the first bundle, whilemaintaining word association structures of the first and second bundlesin the connected bundle.

Combination of description data allows generation of a new descriptiondata of an integrated word in such a way that, where two same words areintegrated into one word in a connected bundle, description data of thetwo same words are combined into a single description data of theintegrated word.

Furthermore, to save a data storage space of the new connected bundle,the search server 2 of the present invention stores a connectioninformation of the first and second bundles, and when providing a searchresult to the user's terminal 3, the search server 2 connects eachbundle data and each description data of the first and second bundles inreal time with reference to the stored connection information. Theconnection information may be stored in the bundle data DB 211 or aseparate DB.

For example, assuming that each of the first bundle and the secondbundle has a same word “A”, and is a single bundle having different IDs(identification codes) (only a core word exists). Each single bundle mayhave an equal or different description data. For example, as shown inthe following table 2, the word “A” of the first bundle has a link to atext A, a moving B and an image C as a description data. And, the word“A” of the second bundle has a link to a text A and a document D as adescription data. When the user or the search server 2 connects thefirst bundle with the second bundle, connection information of the firstand second bundles “A+A” is stored in the search server 2. The exemplarybundle data and description data is shown in Table 2 for the purpose ofillustration.

TABLE 2 Exemplary data storage of search server Bundle data Descriptiondata(link) First bundle: A Text A, Moving image B, Image C Secondbundle: A Text A, Document D Connection information of connected bundle:A + A

As shown in the above table 2, when the user retrieves a word “A”, thesearch server 2 provides graph hierarchy structure (bundle data) anddescription data of a first bundle, a second bundle, and a connectedbundle to the user's terminal 3. The search server 2 generates a bundledata and a description data of a connected bundle that is generated byconnecting the first bundle with the second bundle in real time. Forthis reason, unlike the first and second bundles, the connected bundlehas connection information of the first and second bundles, but does nothave a bundle data and a description data. That is, the search server 2retrieves first and second bundle data using the stored connectioninformation “A+A”, integrates the same words “A” of the first and secondbundles into one word “A” in real time to generate a new bundle data ofthe integrated word “A”, and integrates description data of the firstand second bundles into a new description data of the integrated word“A”, i.e. a text A, a moving image B, an image C and a document D, inreal time. The search server 2 provides the user's terminal 3 the bundledata A and the description data (a text A, a moving image B, an image Cand a document D) of the connected bundle that is generated in real timefrom the connection information. When the search server 2 provides asearch result of the search word “A” to the user's terminal 3 asmentioned above, the user's terminal 3 displays three graph hierarchystructures (first bundle, second bundle and connected bundle) having thesame word on its screen, and each graphic structure has differentdescription data about the word “A”.

Meanwhile, although the present invention shows storing connectioninformation of the first and second bundles when connecting the firstbundle with the second bundle, and also when providing a search result,generating a bundle data and a description data of a connected bundle inreal time using the stored connection information as mentioned above,the present invention is not limited in this regard. For example, thepresent invention may generate a bundle data and a description data of aconnected bundle and store them (increased data capacity) in advancewhen connecting the first bundle with the second bundle, and whenproviding a search result, retrieve the stored data and provide it tothe user.

Hereinafter, the above-mentioned connection methods are described indetail with reference to FIGS. 18 and 19. Same words are indicated byshading of their nodes.

In 7) of FIG. 18, each of a first bundle and a second bundle has a sameword 1. And, the second bundle has the same word 1 as a core word. Thesearch server 2 stores connection information of the first and secondbundles when connecting the first bundle with the second bundle. And,when providing a search result to the user's terminal 3, the searchserver 2 generates a bundle data and a description data of the connectedbundle in real time with reference to the stored connection information.

The generation of bundle data is made by the search server's integratingtwo same words 1 of the first and second bundles into one word relativeto the first bundle and adding words 10, 20 and 30 of the second bundleto the first bundle, while maintaining word association structures ofthe first and second bundles in the connected bundle.

The generation of description data is made by integrating descriptiondata of the same words 1 of the first and second bundles into adescription data of the integrated word 1. At this time, there is achange in the description data of the integrated word 1 in the connectedbundle.

In 8) of FIG. 18, each of a first bundle and a second bundle has a sameword 2. When a search result is provided, a connected bundle isgenerated using a connection information of the first bundle and thesecond bundle. The same words 2 are integrated into one word relative tothe first bundle, and words 10, 20 and 30 of the second bundles areadded to the first bundle.

In 9) of FIG. 18, each of a first bundle and a second bundle has samewords 2, 6 and 8. The same words 2, 6 and 8 are each integrated into oneword relative to the first bundle, and words 10, 20 and 30 of the secondbundles are added to the first bundle.

In 10) of FIG. 18, each of a first bundle and a second bundle has a sameword 4. The same words 4 are integrated into one word relative to thefirst bundle, and words 10, 20 and 30 of the second bundles are added tothe first bundle.

In 11) and 12) of FIG. 19, second bundles have the same associationstructure but different graph hierarchy structures. The connectedbundles of 11) and 12) are equal to each other.

In 13) of FIG. 19, each of a first bundle and a second bundle has samewords 1, 3 and 4. The connection methods 7) through 13) are applied by acommon connection method. As mentioned above, when connecting thebundles, the search server 2 stores a connection information of thefirst bundle and the second bundle, and when providing a search result,generates a connected bundle (bundle data and description data) in realtime with reference to the stored connection information. The searchserver integrates each of the same words 1 and 3 into each one word(change in the description data). And, the search server adds words 10,20 and 30 of the second bundle to the first bundle. Here, with regard tothe same word 4, the first bundle has a core word 2 and the secondbundle has a core word 10, that is, the first and second bundles havedifferent core words (word association structures). The connected bundleexhibits all connection of the core word 2 with a related word 4 in thefirst bundle and connection of the core word 10 with a related word 4 inthe second bundle (two same words 4 exist). This means maintenance ofword association structures of both the first and second bundles. Atthis time, there is no change in the description data of the same word4.

Alternatively, the same words 4 of the first and second bundles may beintegrated into an integrated word relative to the first bundle (changein the description data), and connection of the core word 2 with arelated word 4 in the second bundle may be removed. This means a priormaintenance of an association structure of the first bundle that isregarded as a basis of the same word 4.

FIG. 12 shows bundle data according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

The storage structure of bundle data DB 211 is described below withreference to an atomic bundle (four-dimensional bundle of b1) as shownin FIG. 12.

An atomic bundle consists of totally twelve words (cells) of b1 to b12and includes b1 as a core word of an atomic bundle and b2, b3, b5, b8,b9 as core words of molecular bundles (molecular core words).

Six bundle structures corresponding to six core words are stored in thebundle data DB 211. The below table 3 shows data structure of the sixbundles.

TABLE 3 Bundle Data structure atomic bundle(b1) b1(NULL), b2(b1),b3(b2), b4(b3), b5(b2′), b6(b5), b7(b5′), b8(b3′), b9(b8), b10(b9),b11(b8′), b12(b9′) molecular bundle 1(b2) b2(NULL), b5(b2′), b6(b5),b7(b5′), molecular bundle 2(b3) b1(NULL), b8(b3′), b9(b8), b10(b9),b11(b8′), b12(b9′) molecular bundle 3(b5) b5(NULL), b6(b5) molecularbundle 4(b8) b8(NULL), b9(b8), b10(b9), b12(b9′) molecular bundle 5(b9)b9(NULL), b12(b9′)

In the above table 3, a word indicated in the parenthesis ( ) means alink information referring to the previous word and subscript ′ meansconnection to the previous word by a vertical line. This data structureallows the bundle data DB 211 to store word data and connection relationof word data and the search server 2 to represent graphic bundle data byconnection relation of the retrieved bundle data.

FIG. 13 is a general flow of a bundle database management method inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In the step for generating and storing bundle data (S10), the searchserver 2 defines a core word and a relevant word between words by asearch word as a word and defines connection relation between the coreword and the relevant word to store it in the bundle data DB 211 (S10).The search server 2 also stores description data corresponding toindividual words forming bundle data in the description data DB 211.

For incorporating this, the search server 2 provides a bundle data DBgenerator with a program means that allows the bundle data DB generatorto designate a core word and a relevant word and input description datafor each word through an input device. The bundle data DB generator maybe an executive corporation of the search server 2 or an ordinary userhaving his/her blog or mini homepage in the search server 2.

The user inputs a search word in the user terminal 3 and transmits asearch request to the search server 2. The search server 2 receives thesearch request (S30).

The search server 2 retrieves the bundle data DB 211 and the descriptiondata DB 221 by a search word to generate the search result page.Describing more specifically with reference to FIG. 14, the receivedsearch word is set as a core word (S41) and the bundle data DB 211 isretrieved by the set core word to generate graphic bundle data by theretrieved data (S42). At this time, another bundle having a relevantword connected to the core word as another core word is retrieved andthe bundles are connected according to the above-mentioned connectionmethods as shown in FIGS. 6 through 11 and FIGS. 18 and 19.

The description data DB 221 is retrieved by all of the core words andrelevant words included in the connected bundles to fetch descriptiondata (S43). A search result page including graphic bundle data anddescription data is generated (S44). Here, a word cell of the graphicbundle data forming the search result page has a hyperlink (URLinformation) referring to description data.

The search server 2 transmits the generated search result page to theuser terminal 3 in response to the search request (S50).

The user retrieves related words and identify description data throughthe graphic bundle data represented on the received search result page.At this time, when the user selects a specific relevant word on bundledata for more detailed information, the search server receives selectioninformation (URL information) of the word (cell) (S60).

The search server 2 retrieves the corresponding description data fromthe description data DB 221 based on URL information included in theselection information to generate the search result page and transmit itto the user terminal 3.

FIG. 15 shows a screen of the search result page according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 illustrates a search result page generated by a search word“hippie” input by the user. The search result page includes a bundledata frame 101 and a description data frame 102.

In the bundle data frame 101, bundle data having a search word of theuser as a core word 103 is graphically represented. Words (cells)forming graphic bundle data have a hyperlink. If the user wants toidentify information of the description data frame 102 and obtain themore detailed information or related information, the user selects aspecific word of the graphic bundle data. The selection information ofthe specific word as URL information is transmitted to the search server2. The search server 2 displays bundle data 104 (FIG. 6) and descriptiondata of the specific word on the description data frame 102. Therefore,the user is provided with bundle data representing relevant wordinformation as well as the desired search result through a single timeof input of a search word, and thus the user can search a wide-rangingknowledge and grasp where the current search result is located in thewhole search result.

FIG. 16 shows a molecular bundle search result page provided in the casethat the user selects a relevant word “psychedelic” in FIG. 15.

FIG. 17 shows a molecular bundle search result page provided in the casethat the user selects a relevant word, “Art Nouveau” in FIG. 15.

As described above, the bundle database management system and method forstoring data association structure according to the present inventionhave been described in detail. However, it should be understood that thedetailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferredembodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only,since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope ofthe invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from thisdetailed description.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

Bundle database management systems and methods for storing dataassociation structure according to the present invention represent anassociation structure of a relevant word (a search word) as well as adirect search result of a search word through a bundle database forstoring an association structure between search words with a graphhierarchy, thereby providing a systematic and high-quality comprehensiveknowledge search service.

Further, as the user is provided with search results, the user clicks arelevant word on the provided bundle data without the need to input asearch word again, thereby simplifying the search interface, providingsearch results of related knowledge as well as the desired searchresult, and reducing search time.

1. A bundle database management system for generating, storing andsearching bundle data defining an association structure betweenindividual words having relation to each other, the system comprising: asearch server having a processor connected to a memory, the searchserver comprising: a bundle definition unit configured to 1) define acore word, a relevant word connected to the core word, and anotherrelevant word derived from the relevant word regarded as another coreword, 2) generate bundle data defining an nth connection relationshipbetween the core word and the relevant word as a graph hierarchy(topology) structure, and 3) store the generated bundle data; adescription definition unit configured to store description datacorresponding to the core word and relevant word; a search requestreceiving unit configured to receive a search request including aspecific search word input by a user; a search result page generatingunit configured to generate a search result page including the bundledata having a search word in its core word and the description datarelating to the core word; and a search result page transmitting unitconfigured to transmit the search result page to the user; and a userterminal connected to the search server, the user terminal beingconfigured to transmit the search request and receive the search resultpage, wherein the search server connects a first bundle with a secondbundle to generate a single nth bundle data, and wherein, when thesearch server connects the first bundle with the second bundle having,as a core word, a same word as an arbitrary word of the first bundle togenerate a connected bundle, while the search server maintains wordassociation structures of the first and second bundles in the connectedbundle, the search server 1) integrates each same word of the firstbundle and the second bundle into one word relative to the first bundle,connects bundle data of the first and second bundles with each other insuch a way to add words of the second bundle to the first bundle, and 2)integrates each description data of the first and second bundles into adescription data of the integrated word.
 2. The bundle databasemanagement system of claim 1, wherein the search server generates,stores and searches bundle data constituting n-dimensional bundle wheren>1, the n-dimensional bundle having a repetitive connection structure,comprising: a first (n=1) bundle in which at least one relevant wordcorresponding to a single core word is connected; a second (n=2) bundlein which an arbitrary relevant word constituting the first bundlebecomes a single core word and at least one relevant word connected tothe single core word is connected; and a third (n=3) bundle in which anarbitrary relevant word constituting the second bundle becomes a singlecore word and at least one relevant word connected to the single coreword is connected.
 3. The bundle database management system of claim 1,wherein the search server represents the bundle data to the user with agraph hierarchy structure that horizontally connects at least onerelevant word for each core word in odd bundles (n=1, 3, 5, . . . ), andvertically connects at least one relevant word for each core word ineven bundles (n=2, 4, 6, . . . ).
 4. The bundle database managementsystem of claim 1, wherein the search server includes: a bundle datadatabase (DB) for storing the core word, the relevant word and theirconnection relation constituting bundle data; and a description data DBfor storing description data corresponding to an individual word storedin the bundle data.
 5. The bundle database management system of claim 1,wherein the search server receives selection information of a specificword from the user terminal, the specific word constituting bundle datarepresented with a graphic structure in the search result page, andincludes the description data retrieved by the specific word in thesearch result page to provide it to the user terminal.
 6. The bundledatabase management system of claim 1, wherein in the step of generatinga search result page, the search server includes uniform resourcelocator (URL) information referring to description data corresponding toeach of the core word and the relevant word constituting the bundle datain the search result page to transmit it to the user terminal.
 7. Thebundle database management system of claim 1, wherein the search serverconnects bundle data through any one method selected from a group or aconnection method thereof, the group consisting of: a horizontal lineA-type connection for converting a relevant word located on a horizontalline (odd bundle) into a core word and connecting a horizontal bundle tothe core word by a vertical line derived from the core word; ahorizontal line end B-type connection rotating a horizontal bundle andconnecting the horizontal bundle by the horizontal line when adding anew relevant word (core word) to the rightmost side of a horizontalline; a horizontal line B-type insertion connection for converting abundle into a rotated bundle and inserting the bundle between relevantwords located on a horizontal line; a vertical line B-type connectionfor converting a relevant word located on a vertical line (even bundle)into a core word and connecting a rotated bundle to the core word by ahorizontal line derived from the core word; a vertical line end A-typeconnection for connecting a horizontal bundle by the vertical line whenadding a new relevant word (core word) to the uppermost side of avertical line; and a vertical line A-type insertion connection forinserting a bundle between relevant words located on a vertical line. 8.A bundle database management method for generating, storing, andsearching bundle data defining an association structure betweenindividual words having relation to each other, the method comprisingthe steps of: (1) defining, with a processor, a core word, a relevantword connected to the core word, and another relevant word derived fromthe relevant word regarded as another core word, generating bundle datadefining an nth connection relation between the core word and therelevant word as a graph hierarchy structure, and storing the generatedbundle data; (2) storing description data in a memory, the descriptiondata corresponding to the core word and the relevant word; (3) receivinga search request including a specific search word input by a user; (4)generating, with a processor, a search result page including the bundledata having a search word as its core word and the description datarelating to the core word; and (5) transmitting the search result pageto a user terminal, wherein the step (4) comprises connecting a firstbundle with a second bundle to generate a single nth bundle data; and inthe case of connecting the first bundle with the second bundle having,as a core word, a same word as an arbitrary word of the first bundle togenerate a connected bundle, the step (4) comprises, while maintainingword association structures of the first and second bundles in theconnected bundle, integrating each same word of the first bundle and thesecond bundle into one word relative to the first bundle, connectingbundle data of the first and second bundles in such a way to add wordsof the second bundle to the first bundle, and integrating eachdescription data of the first and second bundles into a description dataof the integrated word.
 9. The bundle database management method ofclaim 8, wherein the step of (1) generating and storing bundle datacomprises generating the bundle data having n-dimension (n>1) bundle andstoring the bundle data in a bundle data DB, the n-dimensional bundlehaving a connection structure comprising: a first (n=1) bundle in whichat least one relevant word corresponding to a single core word isconnected; a second (n=2) bundle in which an arbitrary relevant wordconstituting the first bundle becomes a single core word and at leastone relevant word connected to the core word is connected; and a third(n=3) bundle in which an arbitrary relevant word constituting the secondbundle becomes a single core word and at least one relevant wordconnected to the core word is connected.
 10. The bundle databasemanagement method of claim 8, wherein the step of (2) storingdescription data includes storing description data corresponding to thecore word and relevant word in a description data DB.
 11. The bundledatabase management method of claim 8, wherein the step of (4)generating a search result page includes the steps of: (4-1) setting thereceived search word as a core word; (4-2) retrieving the bundle data DBby the core word to search for the bundle data; (4-3) retrieving thedescription data DB by the core word to search for the correspondingdescription data; and (4-4) generating the search result page includingthe bundle data and the description data.
 12. The bundle databasemanagement method of claim 8, wherein the step of (4) generating asearch result page includes the step of including the bundle data in thesearch result page, the bundle data being in odd bundles (n=1, 3, 5, . .. ) represented in such a graphic structure that at least one relevantword for each core word are horizontally connects and in even bundles(n=2, 4, 6, . . . ) represented in such a graphic structure that atleast one relevant word for each core word are vertically connected. 13.The bundle database management method of claim 8, wherein the step of(4) generating a search result page includes generating the searchresult page including URL information referring to description datacorresponding to each of the core word and the relevant wordsconstituting the bundle data.
 14. The bundle database management methodof claim 8, wherein the step of (4) generating a search result pagecomprises connecting bundle data through any one method selected from agroup or a connection method thereof, the group consisting of: aconnection (a horizontal line A-type connection) for converting arelevant word located on a horizontal line (odd bundle) into a core wordand connecting a horizontal bundle to the core word by a vertical linederived from the core word; a connection (a horizontal line end B-typeconnection) for rotating a horizontal bundle and connecting thehorizontal bundle by a horizontal line when adding a new relevant word(core word) to the rightmost side of the horizontal line; a connection(a horizontal line B-type insertion connection) for converting a bundleinto a rotated bundle and inserting the bundle between relevant wordslocated on a horizontal line; a connection (a vertical line B-typeconnection) for converting a relevant word located on a vertical line(even bundle) into a core word and connecting a rotated bundle to thecore word by a horizontal line derived from the core word; a connection(a vertical line end A-type connection) for connecting a horizontalbundle by a vertical line when adding a new relevant word (core word) tothe uppermost side of a vertical line; and a connection (a vertical lineA-type insertion connection) for inserting a bundle between relevantwords located on a vertical line.
 15. The bundle database managementmethod of claim 8, further comprising the steps of: (6) receivingselection information of a specific word constituting bundle data fromthe user terminal, the bundle data being represented in a graphicstructure at the search result page; and (7) including the descriptiondata retrieved by the specific word in the search result page to provideit to the user terminal.